


Quirky

by GrandpaOfAll (Greyed_Viking)



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: LU Springtime Fic Exchange 2020, Legend is actually caring surprise!, Linked Universe, Odd, Wild is... odd, Wind & Time & Four are a little rude in this, quirky, quirky even, sorry - Freeform, that happens when you spend 100 years in a shrine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23869300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greyed_Viking/pseuds/GrandpaOfAll
Summary: Wild is odd. He knows this, but it doesn’t mean he likes it!For As on the LU server!
Relationships: Wild & Four, Wild & Legend, Wild & Time, Wild & Wind
Comments: 9
Kudos: 428





	Quirky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarlightQueen17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightQueen17/gifts).



He knew he was odd. One didn’t come out of a shrine a hundred years later and not become a little odd. But that didn’t mean he  _ liked  _ it. Sure, he had always managed to keep a good attitude about it, even on days he felt worthless. He was alive, and that had to mean something! It had to! He promised himself to keep his head up. The world needed him to. All of his friends, forgotten and new, needed him. But that was before. Now he wasn’t sure how to stay upbeat and happy like he used to. He stared into the river thinking about this, before movement caught his eye and he automatically pounced.

Fish caught in his teeth, he surfaced, swimming towards the embankment where his friends stood, staring at him. Dropping the fish into his hands, he cocked his head. Why were they staring? He was just fishing!

“Uh, Wild? Did you just catch that with your teeth?” Wind asked. He nodded slowly. What was wrong with that? Fish are too slippery to grab with your hands! Teeth worked the best! Wind rubbed his temples before letting out a sigh. “Wild. Wild, dude, that’s not how you fish, you can’t just… You can’t  _ do  _ that!”

“And why not?” Wild retorted defensively. Wind looked at him, taken aback, but dropped the subject. Sometimes the fight wasn’t worth it.

-

Wild resented the fact that the other Links found him to be “odd”. Yes, sure, he was odd, whatever. But did they have to act like he was stupid for doing things his way? It made it hard to stay happy and content with himself when his friends treated him like an idiot for not doing things a certain way, or doing things that weren’t “normal”. He swung his sword down, letting it bounce back off the rock he was testing it on.

“What are you doing?” Four asked plainly from behind him. Wild turned, face curious.

“Uh… testing my new weapon out?” Wild answered, slamming the blade into a nearby boulder again. Four closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This was fine. This was totally normal, on par for Wild, but also–

“Wild, Hylia’s sake, that’s not how you test a weapon. That is most definitely  _ not _ how you test a weapon.”

“So? It’s how  _ I  _ test weapons and it works for me!” Wild said firmly. Four blinked at him but left him be, beating the sword into the rock a few more times. Sometimes, Four thought, Wild was just too odd.

-

Wild had finally accepted the fact that the other Links just found him odd. But sometimes, he didn’t understand  _ why  _ they found him odd. He had to relearn a lot, all by himself, so sure, he didn’t do things the “correct” way, but what he did worked, right? Sometimes he just did things the only way he knew how. Sometimes that included sniffing clothing to see what properties they had.

When Wild ruined his tunic, he was offered an old red tunic by Time. The first thing he did, of course, was sniff it. He brightened, surprised.

“This is heat-resistant! Where did you get it? From the Gorons? How can you survive on the Mountain with just a tunic? Oh! You must have gotten it from the Guerdo then! Yeah, this would be good for desert wear,” He said, bouncing on his heels. Time stared at him, confused. 

“I got it from the Gorons actually. How did you know it was heat-resistant?” Wild looked at him, equally confused.

“You… It has the smell of heat-resistance on it? It was just an observation…” Time and Wild frowned at each other. 

“Wild, you can’t just smell something and tell what properties it has. That’s impossible.” Time said slowly. Wild sighed, passing back the tunic.

“Nevermind, Time, I’ll figure something else out,” Wild said with a pained smile.

-

Wild stared at the ground. Why did everyone else finding him odd bother him so much? He knew he was odd, he knew he did things oddly, but it wasn’t any big deal! Twilight could turn into a wolf, Time had masks with people’s souls in them, Four could see Minish, they all were odd! So why did it bother him so badly when they found  _ him _ odd? 

Kicking the dirt, he sighed. Did it really matter? No. It doesn’t matter.

“What doesn’t matter?” A voice came from behind him. He jumped, whirling around to find him eye to eye with Legend. He looked unimpressed, but not bored like he typically did. Wild hesitated.

“Well it doesn’t matter, does it? So why bother wasting time talking about it?” Wild muttered, hand reaching up to his hair, where he began braiding small sections of hair. Legend raised an eyebrow. Wild sighed, but didn’t say anything.

“Well, whatever it is, if it’s bothering you, it’s not a waste of time. You haven’t been yourself lately. But if you say it’s nothing, then it’s obviously nothing, I guess,” Legend said quietly, turning to leave. Wild grabbed Legend’s arm, not looking at him, but holding on tightly. Legend smiled softly, turning back to face Wild. Wild didn’t meet his eyes, but began talking.

“I’m over a hundred years old, Legend. I stayed in the shine for  _ a hundred years.  _ I had to relearn a lot when I went on my quest. By myself. And I know I do things a little odd because of it but…”

“But you don’t wanna be seen as odd,” Legend finished. Wild nodded, meeting his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks. Legend leaned in and hugged him tightly.

“You aren’t odd, Wild. Sure, you catch fish with your teeth, investigate clothes by smell, and test weapons by smacking them on rocks, but that doesn’t make  _ you _ odd,” Legend mumbled into Wild’s hair. Wild hiccuped in his crying, but didn’t respond. “You’re quirky. Those are quirks. They are things that make you uniquely you. That isn’t a bad thing, Wild. You being unique is a good thing. You being quirky is a good thing. You aren’t odd, and even if you were, we’d love you for it.”

“...Really?” Wild asked, his voice unusually child-like. Legend chuckled. “Really.”

“Okay… Thanks Legend.”

“You’re welcome, Wild.”


End file.
